- Google launches a series of accessibility features for its ecosystem
- Chrome is getting a URL corrector, which will protect you from Typosquatting
- As for Live Caption (Android’s automatic subtitles), it finally supports the French language
Some fairly common online threats include the Typosquatting. In summary, this technique consists in exploiting the errors that the user can commit when he enters an address on the bar of his browser. Malicious entities take control of domain names similar to those of legitimate websites. Then, they expect that Internet users accidentally fall on their sites, in the event of a typo. For example, if you accidentally go to “Facebooook.com” instead of “Facebook.com”, you will not come across Mark Zuckerberg’s social network. But the good news is that Google Chrome has just announced a new feature that will limit these typing errors.
In a recent blog post, Google announced a series of new accessibility features for its ecosystem. And among these novelties, there is the new functionality against typos on the address bar. According to the firm, when entering the address of a site, Chrome detects shells and suggests corrections. “It increases accessibility for people with dyslexia, language learners and anyone who makes typos by making it easier to access previously visited websites despite misspellings”, explains Google. The novelty arrives first on computers, but it will also be offered on the Android version of Chrome later.
Android subtitles are available in French
As mentioned above, Google has announced several new accessibility features. And among these, there is also support for the French language on the Live Caption feature. Available on Android for years, this feature uses Google’s AI to automatically generate captions for video or audio content and even for calls. However, so far it only supported English. But that will soon change.
According to Google, support for French, but also Italian and German is coming to a few devices, including the Pixel 4 and Pixel 5, as well as other Android devices, including Samsung Galaxy. Unfortunately, the firm is not very specific about compatible devices. But in any case, the fact that Live Caption is finally available in French is good news. These automatic captions can help people who are hard of hearing. But they can also be handy if, for example, you’re in a meeting and you can’t turn up the volume on your smartphone.
Otherwise, for people in wheelchairs, Google Maps has a new indicator. This one was tested for a while, but now it is accessible for everyone. “We’re now making the icon visible to everyone on Maps so you can ‘know before you go’ if there’s a step-free entrance, which is useful whether you’re using a wheelchair, pushing a stroller, or drag a suitcase”, Google announces. Google has also just announced new accessibility features for connected watches (via Wear OS 4). And its Lookout app, which is meant to help people who are blind or visually impaired, gets artificial intelligence that can describe an image inline (when there’s no caption or alt text).
